The Qatar national chess team will leave for India today to participate in the 44th Olympiad, which will start tomorrow and will continue until August 10, in Chennai.
The delegation, which is headed by the President of the Qatar Chess Federation Mohammed Al Madhahka, included grand master Hussein Aziz, national master Ghanem Al Sulaiti, the national team player Yousef Mohammed A Mutawa, as well as emerging players Abdullah Al Hamid and Ryan Irfan and the international referee Yousef Khalil.
President of the Qatar Chess Federation Mohammed Al Madhahka confirmed that the team is keen to participate in the Chess Olympiads since 1986, adding that he participated as a player in 15 events, starting from 1988 to 2016.
"Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, the women's team is unable to participate in the Olympiad, but hopefully will partake in the next editions," he added in a press statement.
"Our goal is to represent Qatar in the best way during international tournament which sees the participation of 185 teams from 180 countries and gain experience," he added.
The QCF President explained that the team is missing the grandmaster Mohammed Nasser Al Sayed but everyone is determined to achieve positive results and improve the world rankings. He explained that the best position achieved by Qatari chess at the Olympiad held in Slovenia in 2002 was ranked 50th globally with the participation of 170 countries and was able to outperform such prestigious teams as the American team.
He concluded that the federation is focusing on age-group tournaments, as well as holding camps and activities to refine and develop talents and the horizontal expansion of the game in Qatar.
He added that the Qatar Chess Federation is also looking forward in the coming period to significantly develop the game and attract more young people to practice this sport and forming a large base to select the best talents to represent the national team at all age stages.
